Julie van der Poel

Staff Writer

Julie van der Poel began her career in the IT industry, where over the course of a decade she wrote user documentation and training programs, developed and managed an educational services department, and eventually headed up a marketing team for an internet startup. Her somewhat accidental career shift towards special education came about during her six-year stint as an expat in Europe. Out of necessity, she became a full-time advocate and teaching support for her young son while they lived in Amsterdam. A move to London found Julie working with high school seniors in her son’s special needs school. It was this experience that fueled Julie’s passion for transition issues facing students with developmental and learning disabilities. Upon returning to the United States, Julie became an Independent Living Skills Instructor for postsecondary students. In this role, Julie developed curriculum and taught students everything from money handling and budgeting, to nutrition and household management.

Julie attended Georgia Tech where she earned a B.S. in Management. Julie now resides in Washington, DC with her family and two labradoodles. When she is not writing for Autism After 16, she spends most of her time ensuring that her 16-year-old son with Autism Spectrum Disorder and his exceptionally bright 8-year-old sister are getting appropriate educations.

These days autism appears to be the disorder du jour and headlines about the newest autism breakthroughs are everywhere. Sometimes filled with jargon or unfamiliar references,...

We have previewed and commented on the "How-To" videos below. Some of these are simple; others are fairly complex. Refer to these yourself, or use them with your adult child or student to help teach and generalize skills. Please note that some videos may contain skills which require support or training. You must determine which are appropriate for you, your adult child, or your student to use safely. Also note that as these videos come from other websites, they may contain pop-up ads. Click on an icon to see category index. Click here for full index.